Ford unveiled plans today for a C$1.2 billion cathode manufacturing facility in Bécancour, Québec. The project will be built in partnership with EcoProBM and SK On, and funded in part by $644 million provided by the Canadian and Quebec governments.
According to Ford the facility is set to start production in the first half of 2026 and is slated to produce 45,000 tonnes of Cathode Active Materials (CAM) per year. The facility will be located in Bécancour, Québec, south of Trois-Rivières and about 150km east of Montreal.
When complete the facility will cover a total of 3,000,000 square feet over six-stories, and create approximately 345 jobs from engineering, sales, service, to student co-op positions. The plant will manufacture high-quality Nickel Cobalt Manganese (NCM) cathode materials for EV batteries, featuring EcoPro’s proprietary core shell gradient (CSG) technology which is said to provide greater performance levels and improved EV range than existing batteries.
“We’re excited to invest in this new facility to create a vertically integrated, closed-loop battery manufacturing supply chain in North America designed to help make electric vehicles more accessible for millions of people over time,” said Bev Goodman, President and CEO of Ford of Canada.
To secure the investment from Ford, the Government of Canada is providing $322 million through the Strategic Innovation Fund, and the Government of Quebec is providing a partially forgivable loan of $322 million through Investissement Québec.
With today’s announcement, Ford joins General Motors who announced last year a cathode active materials plant scheduled to open in Bécancour in 2025. Much like this deal with Ford, the Canadian and Quebec governments committed $300 million in funding for the GM plant.
